It’s quickly becoming the story of the playoffs so far, the ability of the Pittsburgh Penguins to repeatedly push aside their opposition as they march on towards the Stanley Cup finals, a date which seems more and more likely with each passing game.
The Pens remained perfect in the 2008 playoffs, having yet to suffer a loss in the first two rounds of the Quest for Stanley.
The latest success came Tuesday night in the heart of Manhattan as the Penguins scored timely goals and relied on an amazing penalty kill to once again defeat the New York Rangers, taking a 5-3 victory out of the Garden and a commanding 3 game to none lead into game four on Thursday night.
Game Three provided much of the same as we’ve come to expect from the Penguins so far in these playoffs, pinpoint passing, speed, hard hitting, excellent goaltending and scoring and more scoring.
The added feature to Tuesday night’s contest was the inability of the Ranger power play to provide the game changing goal; in fact the power play stumbled badly when needed the most, unable to turn a five on three advantage into anything resembling a decent scoring chance.
The less than stellar play of the power play found a less than friendly reception from the notoriously loud Ranger faithful, who turned their attention from the latest villain for New Yorkers, Sidney Crosby, so involved were they in their displeasure with the Rangers offensive output on Tuesday.
The Pens remained perfect in the 2008 playoffs, having yet to suffer a loss in the first two rounds of the Quest for Stanley.
The latest success came Tuesday night in the heart of Manhattan as the Penguins scored timely goals and relied on an amazing penalty kill to once again defeat the New York Rangers, taking a 5-3 victory out of the Garden and a commanding 3 game to none lead into game four on Thursday night.
Game Three provided much of the same as we’ve come to expect from the Penguins so far in these playoffs, pinpoint passing, speed, hard hitting, excellent goaltending and scoring and more scoring.
The added feature to Tuesday night’s contest was the inability of the Ranger power play to provide the game changing goal; in fact the power play stumbled badly when needed the most, unable to turn a five on three advantage into anything resembling a decent scoring chance.
The less than stellar play of the power play found a less than friendly reception from the notoriously loud Ranger faithful, who turned their attention from the latest villain for New Yorkers, Sidney Crosby, so involved were they in their displeasure with the Rangers offensive output on Tuesday.
The Rangers also suffered from an untimely and unnecessary penalty when Ryan Hollweg took a boarding call late in the second period, resulting in Evgeni Malkin's series leading ninth point as he collected three points on the night, including two goals one of which was the eventual go ahead goal.
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Evgeni was such a force on Tuesday that his scoring passion proved to be far too much for the over stretched Rangers. The penalty and subsequent Malkin goal, perhaps one of those moments that changes not only the momentum of the game, but maybe the series.
The Penguins look far ahead of the curve predicted for a young and learning team, they’re playing smart, fast hockey these days, racking up wins almost at will and making quick work of the series that they have been involved in thus far.
Unless the Rangers can find steadier goaltending, refrain from stupid penalties and provide a lot more offence, Game Four will be farewell night for Broadway, with the Pens moving their highly entertaining show on to the next city.
The Penguins look far ahead of the curve predicted for a young and learning team, they’re playing smart, fast hockey these days, racking up wins almost at will and making quick work of the series that they have been involved in thus far.
Unless the Rangers can find steadier goaltending, refrain from stupid penalties and provide a lot more offence, Game Four will be farewell night for Broadway, with the Pens moving their highly entertaining show on to the next city.
Globe and Mail-- Seven in a row, and counting
National Post-- Rangers remain unrewarded
CBC Sports-- Malkin trumps dominant Jagr in Game 3
New York Times-- Malkin Again Provides the Spark
New York Post/AP-- Penguins push Rangers to brink of elimination
New York Post-- Pitt-iful
New York Daily News-- Penguins push Rangers to brink of elimination with 5-3 win at Garden
Pittsburgh Post Gazette-- Malkin's 2 goals trigger seventh consecutive playoff victory
Pittsburgh Tribune Review-- Pens push Rangers to brink
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NHL.com-- Stats Pack
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